The development of young people is the responsibility of all schools, however, one of the significant things that sets Newington College apart from many other schools is our school-wide commitment to the development of character in our young men. As we begin the new school year, character has been the focus of a variety of conversations between the boys and teachers. The beauty of these conversations is that they are relevant to all parts of school (and everyday) life.

The character of our boys is on display at all times throughout every school day; in the classroom, in the playground, walking to and from school, playing sport, speaking with adults, wearing the uniform and interacting with their fellow students.

Character is often discussed and yet difficult to clearly define.

At this week’s Staff Meeting we spent the afternoon discussing the development of character and skill in the area of sport. To support us in this process we welcomed three of the Sport Leaders from Stanmore; Mr James Godfrey, Head of Sport, Mr Rex Nottage, Director of Basketball and Mr Ross Turner, Director of Cricket. Mr Godfrey provided a clear outline of the goals of Newington Sport with the main focus being on the development of character. Interestingly, whilst winning is inherent to sport and therefore always a goal, it is not the main goal, rather a by-product.

Appropriately, above all else, the focus of Newington Sport is character. Character is defined as enjoyment, growth, hard work, resilience, respect and unity. This definition provides a fantastic framework for our boys in all areas of school life and should set the tone for our conversations with, and expectations of the boys.

Character development is also well aligned with our focus on leadership development through opportunity, encouragement and mentoring. Over the last week we have seen a number of examples of this. At this week’s Assembly we inducted our Term 1 SRC and ICT Representatives (photos in gallery below) who have the responsibility to speak on behalf of their classmates and to support the teachers with ICT resources. This week at Chapel we also inducted our new School Captain, Samuel Gresham, and House Captains, Tane Blessington (Kingswood) and Callum Sharp (Rydal). These boys, with the support of their fellow Year 6 students, have already begun their roles throughout the school in earnest, leading Assemblies and directing their Houses. This was demonstrated best at the Newington Prep Schools Swimming Carnival as both Houses were led brilliantly as they cheered, celebrated, encouraged and participated with enthusiasm.

This Thursday and Friday we held our annual Leadership Camp with our Year 5 students. This is a great chance to encourage teamwork and character development through a series of challenge-based activities. We look forward to these boys growing into our school leaders over the coming 12 months.

The development of character and leadership is an ongoing task as we work alongside our boys through the trials and successes of each and every day.

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